TUESDAY’S TRIVIA TIDBITS.
Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…
1: The coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival has been won twice by only 8 directors since it’s origins in 1939. They are: Bille August, Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, Alf Sjöberg, Shôhei Imamura, Emir Kusturica, Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Haneke.
2: To achieve the feeling of brotherhood between the two lead actors in “Raging Bull“, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci actually lived and trained with each other for some time before filming began. Ever since then, the two have been very close friends.
3: The character of Leo (played by Albert Finney) in “Miller’s Crossing” was written for Trey Wilson, who played Nathan Arizona, Sr, in the Coens’ previous film, “Raising Arizona“. Wilson died shortly before production began, so Finney took over the role.
4: The mask that Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) wears with his costume in “Eyes Wide Shut” is modelled from the face of Ryan O’Neal, a reference to Stanley Kubrick’s earlier film “Barry Lyndon“.
5: Jeremy Renner was originally going to play Freddie Quell in “The Master” when the film was prepped to shoot years ago, but when financing fell through, and Joaquin Phoenix was available following his “I’m Still Here” project, the filmmakers were able to cast him.
6: The project of “L.A. Confidential” was twice pitched to television: first, producer David L. Wolper wanted to produce the project as a mini-series, and later, it was being developed as a weekly series by HBO. A pilot that starred Kiefer Sutherland was produced, but the series was not picked up afterwards.
7: Unlike most animated films, the principal actors in “Wreck-it Ralph” regularly recorded audio sessions together in the same room, a situation which led to a lot of improvising.
8: Kirk Douglas, who owned the rights to “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest“, planned to star himself, but by the time they got around to making the film he was too old. Douglas passed on production duties to his son Michael and Jack Nicholson was then cast in the lead.
9: The film “Four Rooms” that included segments from four directors – Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Alexandre Rockwell & Allison Anders was originally to be titled “Five Rooms” with Richard Linklater contributing a segment; however, he withdrew before production began.
10: Oliver Stone wrote the first draft of “Platoon” in 1971 and sent it to Jim Morrison in hopes that he would play the part of Pvt. Chris Taylor (whom Charlie Sheen would ultimately play). Morrison had the script on him when he was found dead in Paris. It is unknown whether he would have been cast had he lived. However, Stone eventually made “The Doors” based on Morrison’s life.
So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.
See you next Tuesday…
(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)
MARKED MOVIES 
March 5, 2013 at 9:59 am
Good stuff as usual Mark. Any Kubrick-related facts are always a winner in my book! I’ve heard Four Rooms mentioned a few times and it sounds interesting, one I’d be eager to check out.
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March 5, 2013 at 10:48 am
Cheers Chris. Four Rooms is okay but it should have been much better. Tarantino’s segment is a Roald Dahl story that was done much better in “Hitchcock’s presents” series. Its worth a look but it doesn’t quite come together as a whole.
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March 5, 2013 at 11:29 am
Great trivia as always. I’ve heard the one about Platoon and Cuckoo’s Nest before. I can definitely see the friendship between De Niro and Pesci. I don’t think anyone could have played Freddy Quell as well as Phoenix, I just can’t imagine another actor playing him.
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March 5, 2013 at 12:12 pm
Couldn’t agree with you more on the Phoenix part, man. I like Renner, he’s a good actor but Phoenix was out of this world in The Master. I’m still a bit gutted he never won the Oscar to be honest. Thanks as always!
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March 5, 2013 at 12:22 pm
Another great from what BETTER BE The Lammy Nominated Tuesday Tidbits! 😉
Cool stuff here bro. Look, I like Jeremy Renner, but they better be glad the financing fell through. There’s no way he could have brought what Phoenix did to the Freddie character. And Morrison as Taylor??? Wow. Can’t even wrap my mind around that one.
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March 5, 2013 at 12:34 pm
LOL. I’m hoping for at least a nomination on this one bro. It would be great to win it but a nom at least, surely?
Can’t agree more on Phoenix. One of the finest performances in years and that’s saying something.
Yeah, Jim Morrison and Platoon eh? That’s a very strange one. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around that as well.
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March 5, 2013 at 12:28 pm
Another great list, Mark! I like the DeNiro and Pesci tidbit – method acting all the way!
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March 5, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Thanks Georgina. Yeah, method to the core these guys. Especially, DeNiro. It would seem he can’t just act a role, he has to live it as well.
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March 5, 2013 at 12:32 pm
And thank god De Niro & Pesci remained friends and worked together a few more times! 🙂
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March 5, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Indeed my man! Otherwise you wouldn’t have your favourite or the title of your blog. 😉
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March 5, 2013 at 12:45 pm
and that would be a travesty for all mankind 😉
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March 5, 2013 at 2:01 pm
Indeed it would 😉
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March 5, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Excellent trivia, very interesting about the link between the Doors and Platoon.
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March 5, 2013 at 2:02 pm
Cheers Vinnie. That gives a little food for thought doesn’t it? Jim Morrison, man.
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March 5, 2013 at 2:35 pm
So glad Renner didn’t end up in Phoenix. He is a capable actor but Phoenix was really perfect for this part.
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March 5, 2013 at 2:36 pm
Haha I meant in the Master 😛
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March 5, 2013 at 2:40 pm
Haha! That puts a different spin on it altogether Sati. I got a possible sexual sub-text from the film but it didn’t include Renner. LOL 😉
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March 5, 2013 at 3:58 pm
Oh, what a trip Platoon would have been had they decided to go with Morrison. Haha. Great post man!
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March 5, 2013 at 4:09 pm
Definitely! Can you imagine what that would have been like? Who knows whether Morrison could act or not but I would have loved that. Cheers Dan!
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March 5, 2013 at 4:30 pm
Renner would NOT have cut it in the Master.
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March 5, 2013 at 4:33 pm
Absolutely not, man. You know how I feel about Phoenix in this film. He’s just sublime.
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March 5, 2013 at 4:58 pm
Great stuff, once and again and s always!!
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March 5, 2013 at 6:27 pm
Thanks man. Still a pleasure putting them together
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March 5, 2013 at 4:59 pm
I’m getting better! 7 out of 10!
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March 5, 2013 at 6:27 pm
Not bad Nick! Not bad at all. Maybe next week is your week. 😉
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March 5, 2013 at 5:03 pm
Another nice set of trivia, Mark! A lot of new-to-me stuff. I quite like Albert Finney in “Miller’s Crossing,” I’m not familiar w/ Wilson as I haven’t seen “Raising Arizona“. That’s interesting that the L.A. Confidential pilot didn’t get picked up. I’d think that’d be an interesting TV show.
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March 5, 2013 at 6:29 pm
Thanks Ruth. You should check out Raising Arizona. Wilson is great in it and I can see why they’d cast him in the Finney role.
I would love to have seen that L.A. Confidential series as well. Why do they bury potentially great series’? That could have been something.
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March 5, 2013 at 6:49 pm
Yeah, there are so many shows that didn’t even sound good that got greenlit. L.A. Confidential could’ve been a great show like Boardwalk Empire.
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March 5, 2013 at 7:01 pm
Exactly, it has all the qualities that could make a great show. Plus I love the setting of 50’s L.A. It had numerous possibilities.
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March 5, 2013 at 9:28 pm
Morrison in Platoon… I haven’t seen the film, but that’s an interesting notion all by itself.
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March 5, 2013 at 10:19 pm
You haven’t seen Platoon Morgan? My god man. You must do that. It a brilliant film. And yes, that did say Jim Morrison LOL 😉
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March 5, 2013 at 10:21 pm
Yeah, yeah, it’s on the list. 😉
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March 5, 2013 at 10:22 pm
LOL. I know how those lists can grow and get out of hand, man. You must nudge it up a little. 😉
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March 5, 2013 at 10:46 pm
It’s alphabetical. Unless it gets retitled “Applatoon”, it’s staying where it is. 😛
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March 5, 2013 at 10:48 pm
LOL. Fair enough. We all have our own methods. 😉
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March 5, 2013 at 9:49 pm
Jim Morrison in Platoon … I think that’s the most surreal thing I’ve heard in a while. 🙂 Great post, Mark!
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March 5, 2013 at 10:21 pm
It is a very strange one. That’s for sure. I have a sneaky feeling it might have worked though. Who’d have thought that when Morrison died he was reading over a script on Platoon. The truth is most definitely stranger than fiction sometimes. Thanks again for dropping in. 🙂
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March 5, 2013 at 10:52 pm
Kiefer in LA Confidential for TV, huh? interesting.
I liked what they did in Wreck-It Ralph and it seemed to work…what a great animated flick!
fun roundup today!
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March 5, 2013 at 10:54 pm
Thanks T. Yeah, an LA Confidential tv show. Pilot was made and then it was dropped. This was before he hit it big with 24 i believe. It could have been good.
Wreck It Ralph did work and I hopr they try that approach again.
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March 6, 2013 at 7:56 am
Great tidbits as always, Marky! Phoenix was fantastic in The Master but I’m curious as to what Renner would’ve done with the role.
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March 6, 2013 at 8:03 am
Cheers Fernando. I like Renner very much but I doubt he could have brought anything more to the table than Phoenix did. Phoenix’s performance is one of the most memorable of recent times for me. He’s as good and powerful as Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood.
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March 6, 2013 at 9:06 am
Phoenix is one of my favorite actors but I’d have to disagree with you there. I think Daniel Day-Lewis was stellar in TWBB and I think his performance is even better because his is a very compelling character. Personally, I didn’t care what happen with Freddie Quell, so I think that’s why I didn’t really connect with The Master. Glad it struck a chord with you, though.
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March 6, 2013 at 9:19 am
Day-Lewis was indeed stellar. No doubt about that. I can see why you didn’t connect with Quell. I struggled to understand him myself but I still found him intriguing and Phoenix’s performance added to that compelling side to him. I can’t praise Phoenix enough. I haven’t seen Day-Lewis in Lincoln yet but an actor can put out a performance like Phoenix did and not get an award is beyond me.
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March 7, 2013 at 2:50 am
How crazy would that have been to have a 1970’s Platoon film with Jim Morrison starring? Great finds as usually Mark.. I look forward to learning something new every Tuesday.
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March 7, 2013 at 7:22 am
Cheers Adam. I look forward to learning stuff myself every Tuesday. When these posts go up, I always stumble across something that’s new to me too. Morrison and Platoon is a beauty, though, isn’t it?
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March 8, 2013 at 10:12 pm
I’m so glad Phoenix was cast in The Master. Nothing against Renner, but I can’t imagine anyone but Phoenix in that role now.
Nice work, Mark!
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March 10, 2013 at 11:58 pm
Couldn’t agree more Eric. I like Renner too. He’s a very capable actor but Phoenix was magnificent. It’s one of my favourite performances of recent years. Thanks man!
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February 10, 2014 at 1:39 pm
I think American beauty as a TV show might have had something.
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